Apparatus and method for merging wireless telephone service with existing wired telephone equipment in a facility

Abstract

An apparatus and method for merging mobile, or wireless, telephone service with existing wired telephone equipment in a facility, such as a home or business, are provided. With the apparatus and method, a converter is associated with the facility such that a wireless telephone number is associated with the converter. Telephone calls may be made to the facility via a wireless telephone network and the converter. The converter receives calls from the wireless telephone network directed to the converter, converts the format of the wireless telephone call to a wired telephone call format, and routes these calls to one or more wired telephone units in the facility. Calls originating from the wired telephone units in the facility are received by the converter which converts the call signals to an appropriate format for wireless network routing, and forwards the call to the wireless network.

1 - 26 . (canceled)  
   
   
       27 . A computer implemented method of routing calls from wired telephone devices in a facility, the computer implemented method comprising: 
 receiving a call from a wired telephone device;    converting the call to a wireless telephone network format;    forwarding the call directly to a wireless telephone network without routing the call through a wired telephone network external to the facility;    determining a location of a wireless telephone device associated with the facility    routing the call to the wireless telephone device based on the location of the wireless telephone device, wherein the call is routed to the wireless telephone device only when the location of the wireless telephone device is not a location within the facility.    
   
   
       28 - 30 . (canceled)  
   
   
       31 . The computer implemented method of  claim 27 , further comprising: 
 routing the call to both the wired telephone device and the wireless telephone device.    
   
   
       32 . The computer implemented method of  claim 27 , wherein the call has one or more associated wireless telephone services, and wherein the one or more associated wireless telephone services are provided through the wired telephone device.  
   
   
       33 . The computer implemented method of  claim 32 , wherein the wired telephone device includes a wireless service unit that provides one or more interfaces for providing the one or more wireless telephone services to a user of the wired telephone device, wherein the services are services a wireless user has subscribed to receive.  
   
   
       34 . The computer implemented method of  claim 27 , wherein the call has an associated address, and wherein forwarding the call to the wired telephone device includes looking up the associated address in a directory of wired telephone devices associated with the facility, wherein the associated address is a geographic location of the facility and wherein determining if the last reported location of the wireless telephone device coincides with the geographical location of the facility with which the wireless telephone unit is associated.  
   
   
       35 . The computer implemented method of  claim 27 , further comprising: 
 storing tracking information for the wired telephone device.    
   
   
       36 . The computer implemented method of  claim 35 , wherein the tracking information includes one or more of records of calls made to or from the wired telephone device, wired telephone device preferences, wired telephone capabilities, user preferences for a user of the wired telephone device, and billing records for the wired telephone device.  
   
   
       37 . The computer implemented method of  claim 31 , wherein a telephone number associated with the call has an associated identifier for the wired telephone device and an associated identifier for the wireless telephone device, and wherein the call is routes to the wired telephone device and the wireless telephone device based on the associated identifiers.  
   
   
       38 . The computer implemented method of  claim 31 , further comprising: 
 determining when to route the calls to the wired or wireless telephones associated with the facility; and    routing the call based upon the determination.    
   
   
       39 . An apparatus for routing calls from wired telephone devices in a facility, comprising: 
 a facility wired network interface;    a wireless network interface; and    a controller coupled to both the facility wired network interface and the wireless network interface, wherein the controller receives a call from a wired telephone device; converts the call to a wireless telephone network format; forwards the call directly to a wireless telephone network without routing the call through a wired telephone network external to the facility; determines a location of a wireless telephone device associated with the facility; routes the call to the wireless telephone device based on the location of the wireless telephone device, wherein the call is routed to the wireless telephone device only when the location of the wireless telephone device is not a location within the facility.    
   
   
       40 . The apparatus of  claim 39 , wherein the controller routes the call to both the wired telephone device and the wireless telephone device.  
   
   
       41 . The apparatus of  claim 40 , wherein the call has an associated address, and wherein the controller forwards the call to the wired telephone device includes looking up the associated address in a directory of wired telephone devices associated with the facility, wherein the associated address is a geographic location of the facility and wherein determining if the last reported location of the wireless telephone device coincides with the geographical location of the facility with which the wireless telephone unit is associated.  
   
   
       42 . The apparatus of  claim 39 , wherein the controller stores tracking information for the wired telephone device.  
   
   
       43 . The apparatus of  claim 39 , wherein the controller determines when to route the calls to the wired or wireless telephones associated with the facility; and routes the call based upon the determination.  
   
   
       44 . A computer program product comprising: 
 a computer usable medium including computer usable program code for routing calls from a wired telephone devices in a facility, the computer program product including:    computer usable program code for receiving a call from a wired telephone device;    computer usable program code for converting the call to a wireless telephone network format;    computer usable program code for forwarding the call directly to a wireless telephone network without routing the call through a wired telephone network external to the facility;    computer usable program code for determining a location of a wireless telephone device associated with the facility;    computer usable program code for routing the call to the wireless telephone device based on the location of the wireless telephone device, wherein the call is routed to the wireless telephone device only when the location of the wireless telephone device is not a location within the facility.    
   
   
       45 . The computer program product of  claim 44 , further including: 
 computer usable program code for routing the call to both the wired telephone device and the wireless telephone device.    
   
   
       46 . The computer program product of  claim 44 , wherein the call has an associated address, and wherein forwarding the call to the wired telephone device includes looking up the associated address in a directory of wired telephone devices associated with the facility, wherein the associated address is a geographic location of the facility and wherein determining if the last reported location of the wireless telephone device coincides with the geographical location of the facility with which the wireless telephone unit is associated.  
   
   
       47 . The computer program product of  claim 44 , further including: 
 computer usable program code for storing tracking information for the wired telephone device.    
   
   
       48 . The computer program product of  claim 45 , wherein a telephone number associated with the call has an associated identifier for the wired telephone device and an associated identifier for the wireless telephone device, and wherein the call is routes to the wired telephone device and the wireless telephone device based on the associated identifiers.  
   
   
       49 . The computer program product of  claim 44 , further including: 
 computer usable program code for determining when to route the calls to the wired or wireless telephones associated with the facility; and    computer usable program code for routing the call based upon the determination.